Our 2022 Imagine was stolen (and recovered) this past weekend...

[Tech03]

Wooo boy did we get lucky. We got a call from a sheriffs department a few counties over at 1:30 AM Sunday. The ringer on our phones were off but my kiddo was sleep-walking and just happened to wake us up. We saw my wife's phone keep lighting up from a number we didn't recognize. I decided to answer it because they kept calling repeatedly but I nearly didn't. The call was from a sheriff deputy who saw a truck that looked like it had been driven off a cliff pulling a brand new looking camper. The guy was stopped at a gas station about 20 miles from where I store it getting gas. There were all kinds of loose tools and crap in the bed, as well as inside the truck. The deputy's "ain't right" meter started going off and he decided to run plates. The names didn't match, the truck was registered to a guy on parole with an extensive history of theft, robbery and burglary which is when he decided to track us down and call. It's a befuddling question at 1:30 in the morning when someone asks if you own a camper and happen to know where it is, lol. I just responded "yes I own one but I have a feeling you might know where it is better than me!"

The storage facility caught it all on video, and it was a partially well thought out effort on the thieves part to get access to the facility (there were 4 of them) which I won't detail in case other crooks happen to be reading this. In the end, they ended up brute-forcing their way in to the facility and drove straight to my camper, hooked it up and tore out of there. There were tons of other RVs to choose from. Mine was one of the many that did not have a tongue lock on. Dumb on my part and a lesson learned!

The camper was kept at a gated, well-lit storage facility with surveillance cameras everywhere. No matter how nice of a place you keep yours at, always keep a lock on it.

I was very fortunate for the alertness and attention to detail that the deputy had that night, and am very appreciative for it to just be a lesson learned in the end and not much more.

[Fivecodys]

Glad you got it back and I hope the thieves are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I know that they can defeat a tongue/hitch lock but maybe they were looking for an easier target and the lack of a lock on yours met their criteria. Lesson to us all.
Anyway. Glad you got it back.

[traveldawg]

Hooray for the deputy!!! It is far too often when we hear good stories with happy endings.

[WhittleBurner]

Kudo to that and officer and his instincts. Also for repeatingly calling till someone answered. Some would have given up.

[Redapple63]

Great story and so glad you got it back with no damage! Kudos to the sheriff!

Bill

[Thorvald]

That Deputy deserves a huge thanks and some sort of recognition for trusting their instincts!

[Ynot4me2]

Great ending. Glad those thieves crossed paths with an officer that takes pride in his duties. Our insurance company informed us from the get go that if we don't have a tongue lock from their approved list that they won't cover thief. The same goes for my utility and boat trailer. It's also an added piece of mind.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Our insurance company informed us from the get go that if we don't have a tongue lock from their approved list that they won't cover thief. The same goes for my utility and boat trailer.

Really? Do they insure 5th wheels?
I keep locks on my trailers. Ya, it just takes a thief with bolt cutters, but it will stop the ones that are just looking for the easiest ones to steal.

[pwalton]

My storage facility requires the use of tongue/latch locks - even though they are gated/secured, covered with lights and security cameras. I'm glad they required it, otherwise I fear it would've been part of the "yeah, I'll get when I get around to it" things.

So glad it was noticed and returned! No damage?

[Ynot4me2]

Really? Do they insure 5th wheels?
I keep locks on my trailers. Ya, it just takes a thief with bolt cutters, but it will stop the ones that are just looking for the easiest ones to steal.

They have locks for king pins also. Locks aren't 100% theft proof but it sure beats fighting with the real crocks that call themselves insurance companies.